Snippets from the book
that I liked & those that made me stop & think(dreamzandclouds) –

“He who loves, cares. He cares about you more
than he cares about himself. What you like and what you dislike. What please
or displease you. If you feel sick, he takes better care than a
professional. A professional care is mechanical. The care of your loved
ones has a healing effect on your ailment, and also strengthens your
emotional and spiritual bonding.” ~ Anupam

“A shadow has no colour of its own. It has many
shades of gray to black, depending upon the intensity of light. It moves
with the object and also with the movement of the source of light. A
reflection and silhouette are different from a shadow since they do not
have any existence. The shadow is positive; it’s not the absence of
something. It’s an effect of the cause; it’s not part of the object” ~
Salil

“Not really, the opposite of good is not
necessarily bad” ~ Anupam

“It is good to pray even if you do not believe in
God” ~ Anupam

“All good stories lead to a resolution of
escalated tension. How can there be a story unless something goes wrong?’
~ Aalya

“When two strangers from different backgrounds
& upbringings decide to spend their life together, how can they live
happily together unless they are ready to make compromises? So life is
nothing but a series of adjustments. If you love, all sacrifices are
valuable” ~ Aalya

“he liked this old man. He always addresses him
by his first name, and treats him as an equal. Most of the elderly
consider old age to be a privilege. They expect respect just because they
are elderly” ~ Salil

“The biggest enemy of fun is guilt. Anything done
against conscience accumulates guilt, and soon you start living a
religious life void of fun. Religion is not only opium for poor people but
also for the rich, who can suppress their guilt and conscience with
it” ~ Salil

“Whenever there was conflict in the value system
of an individual & society, the winner is society. You may revolt and
go your own way, but society will chase you until one day you will regret
having chosen your own path. By then it will be too late and your
generations will suffer. If you want to revolt, reach the highest level in
any field – politics, literature, money-making – and then society will
accept you, whatever you may do. You may even be quoted as an
example” ~ Salil

“Traditions are time-tested and youth of every
generation raised questions before adopting them. I have inherited only
those traditions which survived because of their positive strength. The
collective wisdom of our ancestors is a gift we can’t discard” ~
Anupam

“How strange this whole process is. The
initiation of life by zygote is very mysterious and close to making one
believe in God” ~ Aalya

Every character is truly an
existentialist. Sulekha believes in determining the course of events, Salil
finds a way out in suicide Aalya, tries to give a meaning to the life of her
mentor by IVF, Anupam is always trying to find a meaning out of absurd day to
day events. Absurd here is comparable to infinity and nothingness, it is an
effort to experience something that is not perceivable to senses. Farce and
tragedy make the mask of absurdity. If life is absurd so is death.

The whole story of Vipin Behari Goyal’sTall Man Small Shadow is woven around the theory of Existentialism. Before I venture into the novel's intricate patterns of relationship ethics, let us summarize the key five precincts of

Existentialism.

There are five basic themes incorporated in the theory of Existentialism

1. Existence precedes essence: We are sum of the choices we made. Whatever we are today, is result of choices we made in past.

2. Time is of essence: Our life is time bound and and our lived time is qualitative

3. Humanism: Society develops a pressure for superficiality and conformism by its socio economic structure, and human search of identity and meaning causes clash

4. Freedom: We have a chance to stand back from our lives and reflect on our experiences. However we are not free from responsibility.

5. Ethical Consideration: Existentialist may differ on what is ethical but at least they own the responsibility to examine our own life and our society.

The plot of the novel is well summarized by Dr. Rosa Maria DelVecchio, Cleveland State University as follows:

The primary narrator is Anupam. Appropriate to his personality, his name means “unparalled.” He believes, among other things, “It is good to pray even if you do not believe in God.” Anupam’s sanctuary, his place of meditation, is a park bench under his favorite tree, a jacaranda. His primary function in the novel is to coin existentialist philosophies for the day-to-day events that take place in his life, which centers on his wife, Sulekha, and their only child, Aalya.

Goyal also gives voice, at appropriate points in the novel, to some of the other characters. The philosophical issues explored in this novel are complex and challenging to the traditionally accepted social and religious beliefs of many cultures. However, the storyline has the simplicity of a fable, and it is this, if you will, “magically innocent” element of the story that enables the author to succeed in “suspending our disbelief” long enough to experience this enjoyable controversial novel.

Having survived a suicide attempt after losing the love of his life due to their star-crossed situation, Salil begins to pick up his life in his new home and finds he is falling in love with the small shadow of the lovely girl next door, Aalya, the daughter of Anupam and Sulekha. A Ph.D. candidate researching “uneven” relationships in English literature, Aalya develops a bond with her thesis guide, Seema, an older childless woman married to Paul, a drama director.

Aalya and Seema become secret lovers, while Aalya falls in love with Salil and Seema continues to be faithfully married to Paul. A visit to a fertility clinic eventually results in Seema’s giving birth to twins, whose biological parents are Salil and Aalya. Paul consistently demonstrates complete faith in his wife and never questions the parentage of his twins, though he is well aware they cannot be his biologically.

Salil and Aalya eventually get married, and an untimely accident renders Salil incapable of fathering a child. However, the kindness they showed to Seema and Paul is about to come back on them. Salil and Aalya will soon find themselves rich in all that is most important in life, and Salil’s philosophy, “Gratitude is a way of reducing the importance of what somebody has done for you,” will give new meaning to the concept of “divine intervention.”

After we have come to know Aalya’s mother, Sulekha, for the majority of the novel from her husband’s point of view, she suddenly speaks directly to us as the narrator, and we get to know a very different woman from the bedridden asthmatic wife who is always drinking tea that Anupam has shown us. Sulekha emerges as the prime mover of the series of “coincidences” that occur leading up to the marriage of her beloved daughter. Sulekha is the one who bridges the gap between what is socially unacceptable and what is divinely possible in order to preserve her daughter’s long and happy life.

Snippets from the book that I liked & those that made me stop & think–

“He who loves, cares. He cares about you more than he cares about himself. What you like and what you dislike. What please or displease you. If you feel sick, he takes better care than a professional. A professional care is mechanical. The care of your loved ones has a healing effect on your ailment, and also strengthens your emotional and spiritual bonding.” ~ Anupam

“A shadow has no colour of its own. It has many shades of gray to black, depending upon the intensity of light. It moves with the object and also with the movement of the source of light. A reflection and silhouette are different from a shadow since they do not have any existence. The shadow is positive; it’s not the absence of something. It’s an effect of the cause; it’s not part of the object” ~ Salil

“Not really, the opposite of good is not necessarily bad” ~ Anupam

“It is good to pray even if you do not believe in God” ~ Anupam

“All good stories lead to a resolution of escalated tension. How can there be a story unless something goes wrong?’ ~ Aalya

“When two strangers from different backgrounds & upbringings decide to spend their life together, how can they live happily together unless they are ready to make compromises? So life is nothing but a series of adjustments. If you love, all sacrifices are valuable” ~ Aalya

“he liked this old man. He always addresses him by his first name, and treats him as an equal. Most of the elderly consider old age to be a privilege. They expect respect just because they are elderly” ~ Salil

“The biggest enemy of fun is guilt. Anything done against conscience accumulates guilt, and soon you start living a religious life void of fun. Religion is not only opium for poor people but also for the rich, who can suppress their guilt and conscience with it” ~ Salil

“Whenever there was conflict in the value system of an individual & society, the winner is society. You may revolt and go your own way, but society will chase you until one day you will regret having chosen your own path. By then it will be too late and your generations will suffer. If you want to revolt, reach the highest level in any field – politics, literature, money-making – and then society will accept you, whatever you may do. You may even be quoted as an example” ~ Salil

“Traditions are time-tested and youth of every generation raised questions before adopting them. I have inherited only those traditions which survived because of their positive strength. The collective wisdom of our ancestors is a gift we can’t discard” ~ Anupam

“How strange this whole process is. The initiation of life by zygote is very mysterious and close to making one believe in God” ~ Aalya

Every character is truly an existentialist. Sulekha believes in determining the course of events, Salil finds a way out in suicide Aalya, tries to give a meaning to the life of her mentor by IVF, Anupam is always trying to find a meaning out of absurd day to day events. Absurd here is comparable to infinity and nothingness; it is an effort to experience something that is not perceivable to senses. Farce and tragedy make the mask of absurdity. If life is absurd so is death.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Tall man small shadow

It is my debut English novel based on existentialism. Salil loves a shadow which into many characters reveals the secrets of life. Aalya, his neighbor, is doing research in English literature. Her guide Seema is a childless lesbian. Paul, husband of Seema, is a drama director. Anupam is the protagonist, who coins philosophies for day to day events and his wife Sulekha is the second protagonist only in one chapter who confess how she makes coincidences happen with her artful manipulations.
Aalya is a research scholar who is doing her Ph.D. in English literature on the topic "uneven marital relationship". She has lesbian relationship with her guide Seema. At the same time she loves her neighbor Salil who is a software engineer. Salil had a breakup with her college friend Nasrin who was Muslim. He thinks the shadow of Aalya is Nasrin and falls in love with shadow of Aalya. Seema has no children ,Aalya donates egg and Salil donates sperms and fertilized egg is planted in the uterus by IVF.
Anupam, father of Aalya is protagonist who aspires for self-realization through wisdom.
Existentialism is the mainstream used symbolically.

Reader reviews

Another great read!

Reviewed by on 16th September 2014

wow..it is an amazing story..its not actually a series of events..instead feelings of 5 different human beings mentioned..the way the author has mentioned their emotions..actually creates a beautiful love story of 3 different persons..whose lives are entwined in a very beautiful way!!..yes..full of coincidences..being a software engineer..i really loved the character of Salil and his ambitious attitude..and of course who can forget Anupam!!this story will make you pause for a moment and make you wonder that life is indeed very beautiful..yes because through this story the author has taught us that life is very precious and it can be lead in a very beautiful manner by respecting the value of life!! the story is told in a very impressive manner..full of beautiful phrases!!..and the ease and clarity with which the author explains difficult situations and issues of life is really very very impressive!..
Finally recommended to all my friends!!

1 people found this review helpful

Classic Reacher with a twist

To begin with, I need to confess that I cannot read a book without thinking that I am actually witnessing the events and that the characters are real. Of course, with some books it is impossible to get that feeling. I wouldn't bother to rate such books anyway. With good books it is always like that and in the process it is quite natural to fall in love with one of the characters. Though Salil is supposed to be the hero (tall, handsome and all), it was Anupam I fell for. He's wise and innocent at the same time. Of course, the love blooming between Aalya and Salil, Salil's past and the final irony of "planned coincidences" are all intriguing enough. But, it is Anupam's musings which make the book one of its kind. Not every author has the ability to blend philosophy and romance so perfectly, and that too without using the kind of language that would compel the reader to keep a dictionary and a thesaurus at hand. It's the kind of book that can entertain me during a long journey and at the same time the kind that can be used as a primary text for research. Existentialism is not so depressing after all.

Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Behari Goyal an unveiling fable of creative writing exercise an unreal notion of plunging in adore with an outline in a classic Indian set, pleasantly merge beliefs and saga wonderfully as well as adroitly parley in relation to a variety of subjects pertaining to youth, existence, adore, feelings, culture affairs, matrimony, falling apart, self-esteem, bareness in the nuptials, conjugal sadism, being taken for granted, regarding dictating and passive cohorts, poise in fixed matrimony, controlling spouses and so on endow with an idealistic insight into the shaman of existence with survival.

The volume spins around the beings of Salil, Aalya, Seema and their relations with the writer elucidate tricky state of affairs and concerns in the verve with this plain petty piece of our life, that the tome look at in detail, which effects in this petite syrupy narrative of an older gentleman, a flourishing lass, a content woman, and an at ease aged duo.

The key raconteur is the central character Anupam invent beliefs for day to day mundane dealings in a park seat beneath his beloved jacaranda tree, concerned for his offspring Aalya's upcoming and desires her to get hitched to a fine bloke and reside blissfully save for is as well anxious of his individual verve following his spawn's wedding and feels that she is the individual who crams the void in his verve.

His thinking hubs on the next central character his other half, Sulekha, an unwell bedridden asthmatic aware fast feeler strapping and clever lady fairly dynamic on social networks and draw on internet to bond with folks of her picking and is a plotter of sorts and deems chances ensue with sly manoeuvrings devoid of being excessively apparent on it. It is she who links the space among what is publicly improper to what is tolerable to certify her offspring’s bliss while observing their daughter tenderly, administer her relations with their fresh fellow Salil.

Salil a recluse boasting commercial ambitions has had a sad precedent where he attempted to commit suicide subsequent to losing the adore of his being the most attractive lass in the academy Nasrin, who is compelled to tie the knot with her cousin by her close relatives but discover he is plummeting in adore with the tiny shade of the pretty lass next door, Aalya but aren’t vocal on it, scared to dig profound into a liaison with her.

Bonbon, caring, youthful, bright, conventional yet contemporary, reserved yet uneasy Aalya, swotting up for her doctoral notion, explore jagged dealings in English literature is as well ensnared by Salil, but gets into an extremely warm, sexual bond a lot hot, other than brisk and calming to her lecturer, an elder sterile, lady Seema, conjugal to an eminent body in the globe of Arts being a theatre essayist and director Paul.

Seema quarry on her youthful green learner lasses to please her sexual needs, by enticing them into having lesbian affairs with her save for is as a fine kind self when she allow leaving Aalya once she notify her about her beliefs for Salil. A call to a fecundity hospital ultimately effect in Seema’s giving delivery to doppelgangers, whose natal blood relations are Salil and Aalya while Paul constantly show full trust in his spouse and certainly not query the pedigree of his twins, though he is on form conscious they cannot be his in nature.

Salil and Aalya in due course get conjugal, but an ill-timed mishap makes Salil inept of fathering a kid. However, Salil and Aalya will shortly locate themselves loaded in all that is most essential in existence, and will present novel connotation to the notion of celestial intercession.

Short on dialogue and protracted on feelings, as the scheme grows ground the writer seize a practical loom by means of a typical bland weave at the conclusion which upsurges a lot of conjectures put up down the way with convention endearing out in the finish Sulekha recounts this episode and you are stunned, amazed, startled, shocked at the eye-openers.

The most astonishing facet of the book is the sturdy notable description deepness recounted finely staying in wits with subject of the tome with each and every temperament do act together with the booklovers every now and then and direct to feel in relation to the similar event in a fresh apparition and stare from an unlike view with all rise distant and you at once unite with them and identify with, commiserate, reflect and sense for them who remain shifting on their irregular chaotic trails except in the end mend for a less frenzied side of their being, fused with the verve of others around them in total concord.

By means of a bright saccharine tempo and silver-tongued flowing elegant out of the ordinary lingo chock-a-block of striking stimulating axioms the exciting paperback is a bliss to interpret which to really appreciate the dreamy facts absorbed among the contours, you need to interpret it at an unhurried speed, maybe just a few sections at an instance, and after that repeat the dealings in your wits with your ogle stopped.

All in all, extremely chalk and cheese, emblematic luminous inscription this stunning work of fiction is a pleasant and rewarding interpret which edify a small number of modules down the way where we can craft twist of fates come about save for still there are stuff away from our run.